Jude Bergkamp ’98, ’10 (Seattle, MA in Psychology, PsyD), Chair and Core Faculty of Seattle’s PsyD program, led an 11-member research team that recently published the article “Pathways to the therapist paragon: a decolonial grounded theory” on Frontiers in Psychology. The article questions unquestioned pillars of psychotherapy in light of privilege and oppression, calling for the need to re-examine our fundamental assumptions. Since the project’s inception in 2018, the team has worked hard to see it through the pandemic, and it’s finally published.
Introduction: While many professional associations within clinical and counseling psychology have made an aspirational call for clinician awareness of social position, there is a lack of research into how socially-conferred privilege impacts psychotherapy. Specifically of interest is the differences in race and gender within the therapeutic dyad, in which there is a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color)/white or male/female-identified dynamic.